It’s been a long road trying to get traffic moving along Petawawa Boulevard (County Road 51).
Mayor Bob Sweet has been working on the project dating back to 2007.
Staff from the County of Renfrew, joined by AECOM, made a presentation to Petawawa town council Monday night (May 17th, 2021).
The estimated cost to 4-lane Petawawa Boulevard from Doran Road to Garrison Petawawa, including the addition of a second bridge and bike lanes, would be around $24.5-million dollars.
A funding request to complete the project was shot down in August of 2019 and alternate plans to alleviate traffic continue to be investigated.
Former base commander Colonel Louis Lapointe previously told county council they can’t expand at the Garrison because they don’t have the infrastructure to support a new unit.
Current plans include two new roundabouts, one at the entrance to Garrison Petawawa, the other where Petawawa Boulevard intersects with Hilda Street, Mohns Avenue, Doran Road.
If the project goes ahead, both roundabouts would be built with the possibility to 4-lane Petawawa Boulevard down the road.
Petawawa Town Council was in favour of the roundabout at the entrance to the base, but raised concerns about pedestrian traffic and off-road vehicles along the Algonquin Trail crossing the proposed roundabout at the Doran Road intersection.
Representatives from AECOM told members of council the roundabout would be safe for pedestrians, cyclists and motorized vehicles.
Petawawa town councillors asked those in attendance to provide traffic modelling under various conditions and updated traffic flow studies.
Unrelated work to the 4-laning of Petawawa Boulevard or the proposed roundabouts, H&H Construction will be doing almost $580,000 in repairs along Petawawa Boulevard this summer (2021) with the county budgeting another $1.3-million for rehabilitation along the Petawawa River Bridge in 2022.
Proposed roundabout at the entrance to Garrison Petawawa
Proposed roundabout where Petawawa Boulevard intersects with Hilda Street, Mohns Avenue and Doran Road
5 Spoke Roundabout example with 12,000 vehicles per day – Fort Wayne, Indiana
Example roundabout in Western Canada with pedestrian crossing caution lights –
15,000 vehicles per day
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